Learning Bank Set To Close

The Monroe County Learning Bank, which helps people complete their high school diplomas and provides tutoring, counseling and financial literacy training, is expected to shut down June 26 due to a lack of funding.

About 50 students still are participating in various aspects of the Learning Bank Network’s programs, and efforts are being made to ensure those students complete as much of their classes as possible by the closing date.

A graduation ceremony for those completing current programs is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday in the dining room of the Student Services/Administration Building at Monroe County Community College, 1555 S. Raisinville Rd., Monroe.

At 7 that night, representatives from the 12 partners who make up the Learning Bank Network and network volunteers plan to appear before the Monroe County Board of Commissioners to discuss the continuing need in Monroe County for the types of services the Learning Bank offers.

“I don’t know how much hope we’re holding out, but I think it’s a last cry for help,” said Dr. David E. Nixon, MCCC president.

He noted that Michigan cut its Adult Basic Education funding in 2003, but competing states such as Ohio and Illinois have remedial training for adults.

“We have a lot of employers worried about a skilled work force and there is a pool of individuals out there who don’t have a (General Educational Development degree) and that’s required for employment.

“From an economic perspective, there is a pool of people we’re missing out on and going to miss out on,” he said. “It’s disappointing.”

Launched in 2009 by a collaborative of a dozen Monroe County organizations, the Learning Bank originally was funded by a $300,000 grant awarded to MCCC by the state and operated in a closed Monroe Bank & Trust branch office in the City of Monroe’s Orchard East neighborhood.

Funding for the Learning Bank has been in question since September, when the state grant was used up.

The partners who started it, which together make up the Learning Bank Network, are MCCC, MBT, Bedford Public Schools Adult Education, Monroe Public Schools Adult Education, Southeast Michigan Community Alliance/Michigan Works!, Monroe County Intermediate School District, Monroe County Opportunity Program, City of Hope CDC, Arthur Lesow Community Center, City of Monroe, Monroe County Library System and United Way of Monroe County.

The facility was kept open on a monthly basis by reduced hours combined with an emergency grant of $50,000 from the state, another $50,000 in financial support from MCCC, and rent-free space and an additional $14,000 from MBT, as well as a patchwork of funding from network partners, local service organizations, foundations and the community at large.

The La-Z-Boy Foundation and Knabusch Charitable Trust No. 2 each contributed $15,000; the United Way of Monroe County awarded $6,000 in grants for tutoring services and GED testing, and the Rotary Club of Monroe committed $3,000 to fund GED testing.

In addition, numerous other community supporters and service clubs came forward to individually offer monetary and grassroots support to keep the Learning Bank Network open.

No additional grants or donors have been identified, Dr. Nixon said, and MCCC cannot afford to continue to keep it open at a cost to the college of $9,000 to $10,000 a month.

He said the group is approaching the county, partly because it never was part of the network and receives training funds through MichiganWorks.

“We believe this collaboration to be significant and powerful,” said H. Douglas Chaffin, MBT president, when the Learning Bank partners launched it in 2009. “It will impact the community positively by providing much-needed resources from a variety of partners to increase the number of adult workers with the skills needed to succeed in Michigan’s emerging economy.”

Statistics seem to validate that, officials said.

Vuncia Council, Learning Bank Network coordinator, said 83 students have earned their GEDs through the network since 2009 and about 75 percent of those went on to college, compared to a typical traditional adult education transfer rate of about 12 percent.

Also, about 250 students participated in a success course and were screened using PowerPath Education to Employment, a system that focuses on how a person learns, rather on than what a person knows.

“I have visited adult basic and literacy programs in 43 states over the past 35 years,” said Dr. Laura P. Wesiel, PowerPath executive partner, in a letter to Ms. Council in January describing how programs are reviewed based on 10 attributes, such as friendliness of environment, use of best-practice research and principles of engagement.

“I can honestly say that I might see one program in each state — if I am lucky — that can model these 10 attributes, talk it, walk it, live it and not give a single excuse for not being the very best,” she wrote. “The Learning Bank of Monroe County is incredible —10 out of 10 — a joy to observe.”